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“Kennedy and Tina have been in an accident. I just got here. Can you come, please?”
I can hear the car starting in the background. “I’m on my way.”
Tina’s mother, Carol and I have an understanding. We put up with each other because of our love for Tina, but that doesn’t mean we will hold hands and sing kumbaya. Yet, I don’t want to stand around by myself. My heart is in my stomach and trying to hold back the tears from the fear that I might be going home alone tonight.
No, that’s not going to happen. The surgery is going to go good, and then Kennedy is going to run into my arms and I’m going to kiss my wife.
Right now, I need to stay positive. People get in accidents all the time. We are walking out of her as a family.
The doors open and I see Carol. “Over here.”
“Anyone talk to you yet?”
“Not a damn person. The nurse at the desk said we won’t know anything until they are out of surgery.”
In that moment, Carol takes my hand, and looks into my eyes. “They are going to be okay. I know it.”
The sheriff didn’t give me any details on the accident.Where are the police?Did the other person get transported here, too? I have so many questions, but no one to answer them.
What happened to my girls?
ChapterThree
The next few hours are rough, and every time a doctor comes out of the emergency doors, I perk up, thinking it’s going to be an update on Tina and Kennedy. How long do surgeries usually take? I have no idea if I should be more worried since it’s been this long or not. Carol is sitting down and I’m still pacing around the waiting area.
“You got a smoke?” I ask her.
“I thought you quit years ago?” she says, opening her pack and handing him one.
“Well, I need one right now, okay.” I grab from her hand. “I have my phone you call me if he comes out.”
She nods, and I walk out the front doors and over to the smoking area. I think about going back in and not smoking this cigarette. It’s a horrible habit, one that I stopped years ago, but I’m stressed to the max right now, and this will give me some relief. So, I light it up and take the first drag.
“What are you here for?” a woman asks, standing a few feet away from me, sitting on the curb.
“Wife and daughter are in surgery.”
She nods. “My father is too. Have no idea what happened, but they called because I’m his emergency contact.”
Honestly, I don’t feel like talking right now, but it might take my mind off it for just a minute.
“Hope he’s okay. It’s been hours and they still haven’t updated me. Sitting around waiting is torture.”
She nods. “My dad ends up here often. It’s to the point to where I have the hospital programmed into my phone. He doesn’t actually want anything to do with me, so why doesn’t he just change his emergency contact information?”
My father and I didn’t have the best relationship either. He was a hard-working man, who worked as much as he needed to, and never once complained. We had a roof over our heads, food on the table, and clothes on our backs. We just never really got to know each other.
“All I can say is make amends. My father and I didn’t have the best relationship and he passed before we could truly work things out. Biggest regret.”
Normally, I don’t input myself into other people’s problems, but I don’t want her to have the same regrets as me. This could be the time where her dad doesn’t make it out of surgery.
She doesn’t respond but walks inside. I take the peace and quiet to close my eyes and enjoy the last few drags of this cigarette.Nicotine, oh how I’ve missed you.
My phone starts to ring, and I throw the cigarette down on the ground and run inside. There is a doctor talking with Carol.
“Are you their doctor?” I ask, trying to catch my breath. “Are they okay?”
He pulls us to the side, and that’s when his demeanor changes.
